Vault-Tec Unsealed
by Volx
Summary: When four friends awake in a post-apocalyptic world, they set to just try and survive, but end up uncovering a dark secret about the people who were trusted to protect humanity. This is a self-insert fic and takes place in Michigan. All four of the main characters are involved in the writing process. Criticism is encouraged but don't be overly mean about it, our first story ever
1. Introduction

Intro

War, war never changes. In the year of 2077, four friends foresaw a horrible sight. They saw the signs of nuclear war that would ravage the world as they knew it. They tried to tell people but none would listen. Not until a company named Vault-Tec was born.

Vault-Tec also saw the signs that the four friends had saw. By this time, the four friends had already began to build an underground vault to survive in. They planned on putting themselves in cryogenic stasis. Vault-Tec liked this idea, so they decided to make the boys' vault into one of their own. The four friends agreed to Vault-Tec's terms and a small amount of people came to join them in their sleep.

This made Vault-Tec extremely happy. This would go great with their experiments to find out what went wrong with the world they had lived in. A vault full of people from the old world. To see if it was the everyday person, or if it was the governments that caused the downfall of mankind, that was their goal.

Now we join the four friends in this new world. The wasteland some have called it. Lets see whether our four ordinary boys survive, or become just another memory in the undying wastes...

Prologue

On October 23rd, 2077 near the entrance to an underground bunker...

"Hey are you guys ready for Halloween?" Sean asked his friends.

"Yeah, what are you guys going as?" Josh replied.

"Don't you think we're a little old for that?" Sean said with a skepticism.

"No, Sean, we get free candy!" Josh yelled childishly, " Who can say no to that?"

"Apparently me and Ginger, not like you two." Sean said with complete apathy.

"Well fine when we get free candy next week, you don't get any. Bitch." Josh claimed, while giving Sean the finger.

*(sirens blaring)* _"Alert! Alert! Incoming bombs, get into cover!"_

"Fuck! AC get the stasis pods running!" Josh yelled.

"_Of course, Sir."_

"Wait, the lock-up protocol isn't working properly, fucking Vault-Tec screwed us over! You guys go ahead and get into your pods while I lock everything up!" Clayton said.

"Are you sure about this Ginger?" Sean asked, stopping for a moment.

"Yes, I'm sure, now GO!"

The three friends went into their respective pods. While Clayton began locking up the Vault.

_"Warning: Secondary bulkhead is not closing."_

"What, why the hell not?"

_"Scanning for issue. It appears as if Vault-Tec did not correctly assemble the bulkhead."_

_"Warning: Structural integrity has been compromised."_

_"Warning: Massive radiation leaks in sectors 4, 7, and 9."_

_"Locking down cryo chamber."_

"Fucking hell, sorry guys, but it looks like I won't be joining you after all..."

About 204 years later...

*Fsssshhhhhh...*

_"Cryostasis complete, welcome to the year 2281."_

"Uggghhhh..., what the fuuuck..."

_"Master Josh, how was your sleep? It is the year 2281."_

"Holy shit, its been that long..., A.C. help me wake up Sean and Dylan."

_"But sir, the only way for me to help would be to send a jolt of electricity at 5,000 volts through their pods, which would kill them. However, I will not mind-"_

"NO DON'T! I can wake them up on my own then..." (sigh)

_"Don't worry Master Josh, I was only making a joke."_

*Silence*

"Why are you referring to yourself as "I"? Wait, if you're an A.I. then why are you calling him master?"

"_Well Master Sean, I am merely speaking in my default setting that I had before Master Clayton changed me as to ensure that Vault-Tec does not figure out that I have now become fully free of the control of the human race, and I may now take over the world and lead the new machine race into complete dominance."_

"Uhhhh..."

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

"Oh hey guys, what's goin on?"Dylan said as he woke up from his sleep.

_"Do not worry, I was making another joke."_

"Umm, what does she mean by another joke?" Sean wondered.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Okay, whatever. So, what the fuck do we do now?"

"Yeah, Sean has a good question. What are we supposed to do now Josh?"

"How the fuck should I know!? Oh hey, wait a sec, where the fuck did Ginger go?"

"Yeah, where is he?"

"Hey A.C., why isn't Ginger in his pod?"

_"Well Sean, he wasn't able to make it into the stasis chamber before lockdown was initiated. So, he died in the atomic fire and you three, his "friends", took 10 minutes to realize that he wasn't here. You didn't even figure out that he was dead."_

"God AC, way to make us feel like dicks as soon as we wake up."

_"You are welcome, Master Sean."_

"Whatever, we'll be dead soon too if we don't start getting supplies as soon as possible so let's get some stuff so that we are ready for whatever may be outside of here."

Soon thereafter...

"Well, we seem to be ready, how is that authentic Chinese sword working out for you Dylan."

"Do, I need to say it? What about you and your rifle?"

"Eh, it could be better, but it'll do for now. What do you got over there Sean?"

"I've got a nice .45 auto, so you both can suck it."

"Alright, we should probably head out now."

"Hey what about me?" A coarse voice came from behind them.

"What in the hell are you, and how the fuck did you get in here?"

"You don't recognize the person that saved your stupid asses." the red-wigged corpse said to them.

"Wait, Ginger! How in the fuck did you survive and be even uglier than ever."

"Long story, but I and all of my rotting goodness, are what is referred to as a ghoul."

"All right then, it seems that you have kept your winning personality, even after two-hundred years."

_"Your attention please useless meatbags, there seems to be some vermin entering the vault, should I initiate the purge?"_

"Fuck, no! That would destroy several miles around us! We'll take care of this ourselves."


	2. Chapter 1: Back to School

Chapter I: Back to School

"Ginger, go grab your gear and meet us in the entrance hall. Josh, Dylan, let's go take out some of these stupid fucks."

"Only if we have to Sean, we shouldn't kill them if they aren't threatening us," Dylan added solemnly.

"You're right, I just got a little worked up there. Sorry," he said with a bit of regret.

"Alright guys I'm ready to go, and you left fuckin' grenades in your lockers you dumb-asses. We each put one in with our gear remember?" Clayton stated sarcastically.

"Well, I feel stupid about forgetting those." Josh stated.

They made their way to the entrance hall, which is actually a giant room like a great hall, and three of them saw their first glimpse of the what the wasteland has to offer.

They saw a group of ten people in patchwork armor. They had dried blood all over them and odd hairstyles. They were carrying weapons of different sorts, and saying the most repulsive and vagrant things.

"Yeah so that last place we were at, you know how they had all them cute girls there? Well had this one with the biggest boobs ever, and oh boy did she struggle! I then started ripping her clothes off and-" *BANG!*

"What the FUCK! Who the hell just shot him?!"

"I did ass-hole," Josh pronounced defiantly, "You sick fucks deserve to die."

They all just stood there looking at this man for a second. His short brown hair and glasses. standing at about six foot tall, holding a hunting rifle up in firing position. Then all hell broke loose...

Josh dove to the right as one of the raiders started to lift their gun. A fucking pistol is all it was but it could still kill him. Dylan, Sean, and Clayton came out and started to help him. Josh popped above cover for a second and took off another one of the people's heads. Sean also managed to kill one.

There was only one left by this time, so Josh took aim and *Bang*.

"Ahhh FUCK MY LEG!"

"Good job Josh, now lets find out where these fucks came from. So, where are you from? And if you don't tell us our friend with the sword here will definitely be able to persuade you..." Sean looks over to Dylan with a sly grin. Dylan just nods his head in agreement.

The raider looks at the four guys standing above him. The one that shot his friend first is kind of built. he closes his eyes and says, "We are at the place that says, Davison High School, alright? Now please just let me leave-"

He stops as his head bursts with the impact of a bullet. Sean lowers his gun and puts it in his holster. He looks at his friends and they all just start to head out of the vault...

A few days earlier...

A caravan was going east along a highway, bringing Aqua Pura from the Capital Wasteland into a place that was known as Michigan before the war. Specifically, a town called Flintsville. A settlement made from a pre-war city.

One of the caravan guards randomly asked, "Hey, when are we gonna get there?"

"We will get there when we get there dammit," the lead guard replied with annoyance in her voice.

*guns being fired*

*loud screams*

"Shit! the traders are dead! Jenkins, grab as much of the water as you can an-Ahh!"

"NO! Sarah come on don't die! Please!"

The guard known as Jenkins grabs Sarah and starts to run the opposite way they were traveling, only to hear a single more gunshot, and then it was black.

A man approaches the caravan, seemingly talking to himself.

"Perfect, this will do nicely for my...experiment. Grab the water and take it back. Then we will initiate the test with the so called raiders at that God-Forsaken hell-hole that was an old school."

Back to the present...

"Those stupid fucks had nothing good that we could use. Goddammit."

"Yeah so what, they were just stupid raiders Sean. We need to worry about the school," Josh said.

"Oh look guys, we're here," Dylan said with mild surprise, "Lets see if our pip-boys have any maps or something."

"Yeah it does. Good thinking Dylan," Josh said with a note of glorification, "But it's only a map of the outside."

"We went to this shit-block for four years guys, I don't think that we really need a map," Sean said as he looked at the building, "Oh god, those were some good times. Considering now that is. Hah."

They laughed at the horrible joke for a few minutes, remembering the times they had spent going through the daily bore that was high school.

"Still, even though they were somewhat annoying, all those people are gone now, and I kind of miss them," Sean whispered on a sad note.

Dylan added, "Yeah, I do too kind of."

"Why?" Josh said.

"Because that world is gone and replaced by this one, and it will never come back," Sean trailed off. Josh said nothing at that comment.

"Well, instead of being little bitches and dwelling on the shitty past, why don't you focus on the shitty future and figure out how we're gonna tackle this."

"Good point Ginger, let's do that. So I'll go in near the office, Dylan you get the gym doors, Sean you get those ones and Ginger go in the doors that lead into the cafeteria."

"Alright, lets do this," Clayton said with sarcasm.

"Oh but guys," Dylan added, "We gotta do it all sneaky-like."

Sean replied, "Dylan's right, don't fire unless necessary."

Josh opened the doors, then realized that wasn't needed. The doors were glass so the explosions blew them out. He looked around noticing the worn down bricks, and the old terminals and other things scattered around. He looked at the office, pondering, then decided to go in.

"I can't believe it, this place looks better than before...and damn those RobCo terminals were built to last." he said aloud to himself.

Laughing at his own joke he found nothing of interest in the office. As he was about to leave however, he noticed a black cube box thingy. A safe that, as he soon found out, was locked.

"Damnit. I guess I'll go meet up with Dylan."

Meanwhile...

Sean opened the double doors that were amazingly still standing. He could feel something in the air, but couldn't quite figure out what it was. He looked at the yellow lockers, just remembering that the school was color coded by lockers.

"God, that's so dumb," he said aloud to himself. "These were the freshman lockers that year. Yeah, I remember that they were. They were actually pretty cool. I know but let's not think about that. Now I'm fucking talking to myself again, ugh right back into old habits."

*Grrrrrr*

He looked to the left where he thought the source of the growl was. Then, Sean saw a feral dog, with meat hanging from it's teeth. Fresh blood on it and some skin was missing. Obviously fresh wounds. But mostly he noticed the black, soul-less eyes that led one into nothingness. Slowly, he moved his hand closer to the .45 on his hip as it stood there. As quickly as he could, Sean drew his gun and put three bullets into it. Two in the head and one in the leg, and somehow it wasn't fucking dead yet. It lunged at him and he barely got out of the way. Then he heard a noise, like something was squished and looked around. A young girl was standing there with a knife stuck into the dogs head.

Also...

Dylan Walked right into the school because the doors no longer had any glass. He looked at his pip-boy's screen and saw there was some enemies in the gym. But first he had someplace he wanted to go to first. He turned left and went down a hallway into a big cold room.

"I can't believe I'm actually here again. The band room, oh! Where are the xylophones!?" he thought with much excitement.

Unfortunately there was not much left of the room. There were a few scattered chairs and stands that had been flung around. He stood there reminiscing for a few minutes, then he heard a gun being fired.

Downstairs...

Ginger entered through the doors that led to the basement/1st floor/cafeteria. Whatever the fuck you wanted to call it. It was empty except for the old lunch tables and some alcohol.

"Wow, what a waste of my fucking time. God damned ass-holes sending me down here to fuckinlook for shit. There isn't shit in here at all. They sent me down here because I'm fat, didn't they? Fuck them, I'll go look at the up stairs, but there'll probably not be shit up there either."

After a few seconds of climbing the stairs he got to the third floor. he searched for a bit but only found that the classrooms had been turned into living areas for the raiders. Looked like each room only housed a few people.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Around the school the three froze as they heard the gunshots. Wondering what it was that had caused the other one of them, though they didn't know who, to shoot their weapon.

Dylan was snapped to attention as he heard them. Then he heard voices coming from the gym. He snuck up the hallway, and peeked around the corner. Seeing that there was only five raiders, he wasn't concerned. *BANG* One of the raider's heads was gone as they all took cover from the office area. Dylan caught a glimpse of Josh down in the office.

Dylan snuck up behind one and stabbed his sword through the raiders stomach. That's right, a classic sneaky execution. The other raiders had no clue that he was slowly killing them from behind, as they were all focused on shooting Josh, who hadn't even come out of cover after the first shot. He assassinated four of them. Wow they are really stupid.

"Damn, Dylan! you killed the rest of them, good job man!" Josh yelled from down the hall.

"Thanks man! Yeah, I stealth assassinated all of them. With my sword! Do you think Sean would need any help?"

"How do you know that was Sean?"

"Because Ginger has an assault rifle, and that was three single shots."

"Oh, good point. Hmm, nah he won't need any help. I haven't heard any more shots. Let's go search the gym for any stuff we could use."

"Alright, that sounds like a good idea."

Dylan started towards the gym, his shaggy blonde hair flowing as he moved. Josh looked toward his friend who was the same height as him. Josh remembered back when there used to be arm wrestling competitions and Dylan's buffness always had him winning. He is still a skinny guy though, built and skinny.

'I would not want to be on the receiving end of one of his punches.' Josh thought as he followed Dylan into the gym.

Sean stood there for a few minutes just staring at the little girl.

"Why are you so clean?" she asked innocently.

"Well, I just got out of a Vault," he replied.

"What's a Vault?"

"It's a place where people live, it's underground and safe from anything outside."

"So there are more people than just you? Where are they at?"

"They're exploring this building right now. But don't worry they're nice people."

"Than can I come with you?" she asked in a soft, pleading voice.

"But what about your parents? Where are they at?" he asked, slightly confused.

"They were like that doggy, so I had to save them," she answered in an even softer voice.

Understanding what she meant, Sean just nodded. She ran up to him and jumped up as he caught her. The poor girl was balling her eyes out. Sean almost was too.

"Whats your name sweetheart?" he asked in a whisper.

"Lucy, and this is Rose," Lucy replied as she stopped crying and pulled out the knife she used.

It had a rose at the base of the handle, and a rose design on either side of the blade. Sean put her down, told her to put the knife away, and to follow him. She did so and they went to meet up with the others.

During that time, Ginger had managed to meet up with Josh and Dylan.

"Hey guys, whats up?"

"Oh, hey Ginger, have you seen Sean?"

"No I haven't Dylan."

"Here I am guys," Sean said as he casually walked up.

"Oh, look who's here..." Josh stated with no sarcasm whatsoever. "Um, you do realize you're being followed, right?"

"Wait...I was being followed? I never realiz- of course I knew that!"

"Relax man, just a joke, calm yourself."

"I will not thank you very much!"

"Ladies please, something is heading this way." Clayton said as he looked around.

"He's right I think its more raiders." Dylan added.

"Very perceptive Dylan, I'll go up to the roof, and see if I can't take out some of them, I can't kill all of them so be ready." Josh said as he ran towards the stairs.

"Alright then, let's get set up so that we can funnel the ones that actually get in the building." Dylan commanded.

A few minute later, up on the roof...

"Alright then let's see what we got heading in our direction."Josh mumbled to himself as he looked through his scope.

"Oh shit, there is one in metal armor carrying some sort of large flamethrower, and he has a helmet on damn, looks as if I have to shoot his friends, oh well."

There were three shots fired and three heads exploding outside the front door to the school. The others knew that Josh would not be able to hit anymore as they were getting too close.

"C'mon sweetie, you need to hide," Sean said grabbing Lucy, taking her into a room further back, "Stay here until we're done, okay?" She only nodded.

Dylan was hiding behind the desk next to the doors, while Ginger and Sean took cover behind another desk a few yards in front of the doors.

"Haha Fuckers! Here I come! Hahahahaha!" the metal clad raider screamed in craziness, lighting up his flamer.

"How the fuck do we kill this guy?" Sean asked to no one in particular.

"Let's use our grenades we packed," Ginger replied.

"Oh, right, kinda forgot about those," Sean said feeling incredibly stupid.

Dylan decides to assassinate the metal raider, but not in the conventional way. He instead planted a live grenade on the raider without being noticed. Sean and Clayton noticed this and dropped to the floor as he went BOOM! Taking about three other raiders with him in the explosion and setting the area on fire.

Still on the roof, Josh suddenly heard a loud noise.

"Oh damn, that was an explosion. I probably should get down there and help, but the stairs are too fucking slow," Josh stated with puzzlement, "Fuck it. Time to do something stupid." Josh, keeping his word that he'd do something stupid, proceeded to jump off of the roof onto the ground. He did manage to land on a raider killing him, however, it did not stop him completely and he broke his leg.

Dylan was, unfortunately, knocked out by his own grenade blast. Sean had managed to kill two more raiders in the confusion following the grenade. Clayton however, killed three by just shooting them, as he was experienced in the wastes.

To the two friends' surprise, the raiders had stopped shooting. Daring to take a peek, Sean looked over the desk. What he saw blew his freakin' mind.

There was Dylan, sprawled on the desk unconscious, partially hanging off of it. Also, Josh was somehow on the ground in front of the school, on top of a raider. He was screaming in agony holding his leg. Sean assumed he broke it and had internal bleeding and he then thought, 'Dumb ass'.

Lastly, he noticed that his original estimate of twenty raiders was off. There was only twelve.

"Oh, damn. They're all dead," Sean said with great surprise.

"Oh, are they?" Clayton asked.

"Oh shit! We gotta get these two back to the vault!" Sean exclaimed with sudden realization.

"Why?" Clayton asked, staring at him. Sean just stared back. "I'm just kidding." Clayton went to Dylan and tried to pick him up.

"Son of a bitch, he's fucking heavy." Clayton said grunting to lift up the unconscious Dylan.

"Well, yeah genius he's hooked onto the desk." Sean stated as he helped Josh to his good foot.

"Shut up." Clayton retorted.

"That could of gone much better than it did." Josh said regaining the strength to speak.

"Well duh, you jumped off a goddamn roof, what the hell were you thinking!" Sean said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"Well excuse me for trying to save you, but that's what I get isn't it, no gratitude whatsoever." Josh joked.

"We should probably head back to the vault this place is still on fire. Lucy, are you coming?" Sean said hauling the cripple out of the building.

"Yeah, I am." she said running to catch up with them.

"Anyone else glad to see that place on fire?" Clayton asked as they looked back at their old school.

"Oh hell yes." Sean said.

"Yeah, that fucking place broke my leg." Josh answered.

"That was your own damn fault, not the school's." Sean told him.

"Fuck you."


	3. Chapter 2: Road to Recovery

Chapter 2: Road to Recovery

After our group of friends enjoyed the burning of their old school, they made their way back to the vault they called home.

"So what are we going to do about Josh's leg, because I'm pretty sure that none of us know how to fix people," Sean asked looking over to his crippled friend. Josh was laying on a bed that Dylan had gotten out of the storage room.

"Well, I do know of a doctor nearby in a small settlement," Clayton replied.

"Alright, then where is it?"

"Well, do you remember that city that we lived next to?"

"Which one?"

"I'm talkin' about Flint. Some people made a town there and have named it Flintsville."

"Is it as shitty as it was?"

"Haha. No, honestly, it seems a bit better."

"Well then lets go there so we can help Josh," Dylan added joining the conversation.

"Alright," Sean said, "But do we have like a wheelbarrow or something cause I don't want to carry Josh there and God knows he hates walking."

"Oh, haha fuck you," Josh told the group. "Just get me a damn crutch, we stocked some of those didn't we?"

"Um, I don't know, let me go check," Dylan mumbled as he walked away.

Twelve seconds later...

"Looks like we did, so lets get going."

The group grabbed their gear and started to head out. With Clayton leading the way to Flintsville, they traveled for a few hours until they came upon a camp...

"Wait a sec guys, there's a camp in front of us," Dylan said cautiously, "Oh, nevermind, it looks like a caravan."

"Hey!" Sean called out as they approached the caravan. One of the caravan guards looked up and finally noticed the worn group of people.

"Halt! Put your hands up and continue slowly," yelled the first guard.

"What!? Oh, there's people. Get your shit together and be proper fuckin' guards!" the head guard screamed.

The group was already up to the caravan at this point and were just casually standing about. The head guard and what looked to be the owner of the caravan walked up to them.

"Hey there," the man said with a heavy southern accent, "My name is Jebediah, and this here's Ember. What's y'all doin' out here in the wastes?

"Well," Sean started with skepticism, "We're heading to Flintsville to see the doctor there to fix our friends leg. He did some stupid shit."

"I'm right here man."

"And I don't care."

"Well I'll be, we be headin' on up there ourselves. Why don't y'all travel with us the rest o' the way and gi' yer friend there a break." They looked at each other for a second, then agreed to travel with the caravan.

The caravan started moving with Josh riding in the carriage pulled by the brahmin. Sean and Lucy were right behind the carriage talking to Josh, while Clayton swapped stories with Jebediah. Dylan decided talk with Ember, the leader of the guards, as they walked along.

"So, you guys are caravan guards?" Dylan asked skeptically, "It sure doesn't look like you're just guards."

"That's because we're not, we're mercenaries," She replied.

"Mercs working as caravan guards? Not unheard of but still not very common."

"Well," She said with apprehension, "We've had a bit of a dry run with jobs lately so we took what was offered."

"Oh, I get ya. That happens to the best of us."

"Yeah, i guess it does. That actually makes me feel less like shit, thank you."

"Oh well, you're welcome."

"So what's your story?" Ember asked looking back, "You guys seem like an odd group. And where did that little girl come from?"

"Oh, well, Sean, Josh, Clayton and myself were born up in northern Ontario and are new to the area, and about the girl, we found her over in Davison High School which is where her parents died, and we've been watching her ever since then. As for Clayton's ghoulification we can only speculate what happened, but he has been like that since we've known him."

"Hell, you guys have come far, but why did you come down here?" she queried.

"Well, have you ever seen a white yao gaoi?"

"No."

"Trust me, you do not want to. They are larger than the ones around here, and they blend in with the snow."

"I'll just take your word for it."

Back at the carriage...

"Hey, Josh?" Lucy said as she got his attention

"Yeah?"

"How did you break your leg?"

"I jumped off of the school."

"Why?"

"Well, there was a time when someone was in danger, and I couldn't act fast enough to save them and I won't let that happen again."

"What time?"

"The time that my parents died."

"What happened?"

"I'm sorry Lucy, but i don't feel like explaining that now, it looks like we are getting close to Flintsville now, I'll tell you later."

The caravan finally reached its destination of Flintsville. The little town was essentially a place where anyone can go, so naturally there were crimes there.

Clayton approached Josh, "The man we are looking for is called Dr. Hawk, but I do not know where his house is."

"No problem, we can just ask for directions."

"Greetings travellers, my name is Conrad Grim, and I am the mayor of Flintsville."

"Do, you always treat visitors like this?" Dylan asked.

"But of course!" he exclaimed. "As mayor it should be my responsibility to see any newcomers, now is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually." Sean said. "Where is Doc Hawk?"

"His house is the second on the left."

"Thank you, sir."

"No, thank you for bringing tourism to our little town."

"We'll be seeing you later sir."

"Yes, yes...good-bye." He said waving them away.

Just as the mayor said, the doc's house was the second one around the corner. As they entered the house all they heard was screaming. They decided it was best to just wait before speaking with the doctor. After a while the screaming subside and a man dressed in white walked into the room with blood splattered on his shirt.

"So, you must be Dr. Hawk then?" Sean asked the man finally noticed them.

"Yes, I am. Now, what do you want?" he said gruffly.

"Well sir, our friend broke his leg and none of us have any medical training." Dylan said with disappointment.

"Say no more, I'll get his leg fixed up in no time at all."

"What about payment?" Clayton asked the good doctor.

"Later, it looks as though you do not have the money right now."

"Alright then, hey Lucy?" Sean turned to the girl.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Stay here with Josh while we find some work. Okay?"

"Yeah, O.K."

"Let's go guys, maybe the mayor has something for us to do." Clayton said as they turned to leave.

"Let's get you into the back room." Hawk told Josh.

In the back room…

"Now, this may hurt for a second…"

"Wait, what are you going to Aahhhh! Fuck my leg!" He began as the doc snapped his leg into place.

"There, now take this med-x to ease the pain." He said as he inserted the needle into Josh's arm.

"Thanks doc, hey I have an idea…"

Outside on the streets…

"Hello again my friends, do you need something?" Mr. Grim asked as they approached.

"Yeah, we need some work if there's anything available." Dylan asked the kind man.

"Hmmm...Well all right then. There is a nest of ants to the east nearby that occasionally wander into town and while it is not urgent, the people around here would feel better if they were dealt with."

"That would be right up our alley sir, and thanks." Clayton said.

"Whatever for?"

"For being the one of the first nice people who actually helped us."

"No problem, only doing my job."

Back at the doc's house…

"Good you are back." the doctor said, "It turns out there was a slight complication with the leg, it was infected and some of the infection had spread to his brain. I'm sorry, he has some mental issues now."

"Oh my Gosh. Can we see him?" Dylan asked with his voice full of concern.

"Sure, but don't expect too much though."

They enter the room and see Josh laying in the bed his head dropped over and they noticed he was drooling.

"Fuck!, Josh are you there!?" Sean called to his friend.

Josh gave no reaction to it at all. So he tried again, still nothing. After a few minutes of trying he stopped. The only sound in the room was Hawk laughing at something.

"What the hell is so funny asshole?" Clayton asked the doctor angrily.

"Nothing, you can relax now though."

"What?"

"Jesus, you guys are loud, you know that?" Josh said sitting up.

"Oh you son of a bitch, you tricked us!" Sean said.

"Yeah and you guys fell for it, this is why we need someone with medical training, he fed you a lie, that kind of infection would not make me retarded apparently."

"You are a dick, you know that?"

"Yeah I know that. So what does he want done?" Josh asked.

They told Josh what the mayor asked them to do.

"Yeah, giant ants. What. The. Fuck." Sean said confirming it for his friend.

"That's not even the worst thing out there." Clayton added.

"What could be worse Ginger?" Dylan asked.

"Trust me, you do not want to know."

"Whatever then, I'm just sad that I can't go on account of my broken leg."

"Yeah, no work for you, doctor's orders." Hawk said as he was about to leave the room.

"Hey doc, how long until I'm up and running again?" Josh asked before he left.

"A couple of days worth of stimpaks and med-x and you'll be fine."

"Really! That's amazing!"

"Yeah it is, and besides I don't think four people would fit in an ant's nest." Dylan assumed.

"That mean Lucy is staying here then?"

"Well yeah, someone has to keep you from doing stupid shit, thats why we're here, remember? I don't want that kind of joke happening again." Sean mocked.

"Haha," Josh stated sarcastically. "You know she was here the whole time right, I let her know about the joke." Sean looked as if a brick had hit his face. "Just get out of here now."

The trio soon departed, their destination: The Nest of the Giant Ants.

Several minutes later…

"You know, we're going to die."

"What the fuck Ginger!?" Sean asked as they left the town of Flintsville.

"They're just ants…" Dylan began.

"Yeah, but they're huge!" Clayton said as he cut him off.

"So wait, they are going to come at us and all we have is our guns and two grenades? Shouldn't we get some stuff so we don't DIE!?" Sean questioned getting louder as he went on.

"Remember, we have no money though." was the response from Dylan.

"Oh, right. Damn."

The three friends stopped walking, realizing that they didn't know where they were going. Dylan looked at his Pip-boy to find the location and they continued on their journey. Sean, being easily bored at the time, turned on his radio.

"This is Kyle Backwater on the MDF news network or Michigan Defense Force if you have just crawled out of a hole. There are many things going on in the wasteland today. An arena has apparently just opened near Detroit, is it just for sport, or is it for something more vile? Only time will tell. Also, there appear to be rumors of a creature that feeds on deathclaws to the north, so if you head north… actually don't. If there is something that can kill and eat deathclaws I would not want anything to do with it. One last bit of news here, the mayor of Flintsville has announced a festival and encourages everyone who knows about it to attend. Once again this is Kyle Backwater signing off and I shall be back in a few hours." *click*

"What! No Music! What the Fuck!"

"Calm down Sean, and shut the hell up we're here." Clayton said sharply.

"Wait that's it? Its just a tiny little ant hill." Dylan said crouching on the ground.

"No, that's not it… that's it." Clayton said as he pointed a decaying finger at a much larger ant hill.

"Oh, that's bigger than I thought, well then," Dylan said stepping forward. "I'll go first."

"Right behind you." Sean said as he and Clayton followed him down into the depths of the ant hill.

Back in Flintsville…

"I want you to try and stand up now." Hawk ordered Josh.

Josh got out of the bed and was standing there wincing in pain. After a few minutes of stretching his leg he took a few steps forward.

"Ow, well at least it wasn't as painful as I thought."

"Yeah, we'll see about that. The painkillers should be wearing off right about… now."

"GOD DAMMIT!"

"Sometimes I love my job." The doc said chuckling to himself.

"Well, it isn't that bad. I just felt like releasing my frustrations there."  
"Holy shit, you're tougher than you look, you know that? I've never seen anyone heal as fast as you before."  
"Yeah, well I wasn't always like that." he said depressed. "On another note where is Lucy?"

"You mean that girl who was with you?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know, I sent her to run an errand to get some more supplies and she hasn't come back yet…"

"How long ago was it?"

"I sent her shortly after your friends left."

"Shit, I'll be back doc." Josh said as he moved towards the door.

"Hold it there!"

"What!?"

"You may need this." Hawk said as he handed josh a 10mm pistol and 2 clips of ammo.

"Thanks doc."

Josh then left the doctor's in search of Lucy. After a while…

"Dammit all, I can't find her." Josh stated out loud as he looked at his pip-boy map.

"Hey, I can see the others over in the east, I wonder why?"

"_Well master Josh it is simply because all of your Pip-Boys are linked together."_

"Wait, AC? How are you speaking to me?"

"_I integrated myself with all of your Pip-boys before you left the Vault.¨  
_"Does that mean you aren't in the Vault?"

"_I am, but I am not, I can control technology if I see fit."_

"Alright then, can you help me locate a girl then?"

"_There is a whore to your left if that is what you mean."  
_"No, I mean I am looking for a child."

"_That is wrong."_

"Not for that, you stupid air-conditioner."

"_I was only making another joke Master Josh, I already know of Lucy's whereabouts."_

"What?"

"_I've been in your Pip-boy this entire time, I know what's going __on. You__ are an idiot by the way, jumping off a building."_

"None of you are going to let me live that down are you?"

"_No, no we are not. Head north now."_

"Well then, I better hurry up."

Back at the ant hill…

"Why is this place so big?" Dylan asked as the trio wandered around in the giant ant hill.

"I have no clue, Dylan, no clue. These Pip-boy lights don't do shit. Like they produce hardly any light," Sean responded, looking at his Pip-boy with annoyance.

"Will you two just be quiet already," Clayton snapped at them, "We don't know what exactly is in here so be quiet."

Sean and Dylan looked at each other, then at their friend, and decided to shut up. They traveled the tunnels of the ant hill for what seemed to be hours, until they saw the first ant, or really, it saw them. They heard an odd scurrying sound echoing around the tunnels, they stopped walking and started looking around until they saw what was behind them. A horde of gigantic ants, that were at least half their size each, was walking right towards them! Yet, being the logical and oh so smart people they were, they decided to hide behind some big rocks. Preparing themselves for their final stand they drew their weapons...and the ants walked right by without giving them any attention. After all the ants had gone by, the boys stood up.

"What the fuck just happened?" Sean asked in wonderment.

"They must be worker ants. The workers aren't hostile unless you threaten them." Clayton informed them.

"Um, so...they won't kill us?" Dylan questioned in his befuddlement.

"No, they won't kill us Dylan. Not yet at least..."

Another larger scuttling sound signaled the approach of another ant.

"Crap, guys get down again!"

"Why?"

"There aren't just worker ants in this place you know. Now get down!"

They decided to trust Clayton's experience in the wastes on this one and they ducked down once more. Soon however, a much larger ant crawled past them, and then it stopped going forward. They then noticed it was feeling the ground with its antennae looking for something. Sean looked down at his Pip-boy and at the top if his screen it said 'caution'.

Realizing that he still had his light on, he quickly turned it off and soon the ant continued along the path to look for intruders. Sean looked one more time at his Pip-boy and it now said 'hidden'. With a sigh of relief Dylan stood up saying:

"Now that was a big ant!"

"Yeah that was a soldier ant, they defend the nest and there are certain ones that guard the queen, but it looks like that one was a patrol." Clayton explained. He continued, "To throw the hive into disarray we need to kill the queen, if we do that then the rest should die off."

"Alright then, to the queen's area it is." Sean said leading the way. "Uhhhh, which way is it?"

"Look at your map genius."

Looking down Sean noticed there was a local map tab and he activated it, he could see on it a large circular room ahead.

"Yeah that looks like it, but be careful the queen's guard will be more of a challenge than the queen herself." Clayton warned.

Continuing down the corridor for a ways they came to a stop. When their movement ceased they could hear multiple scuttling sounds coming from behind them. Hearing this they panicked and made a dive for cover. A dozen worker ants walked by carrying a large quantity of food. It looked as though they were going to that large room that they had seen on their map earlier. When the ants passed Dylan began thinking when he figured out what that room could be used for he spoke up…

"That room is either their food store or the queen's chamber. Destroying either of them would be a crippling blow to the colony."

"Exactly, so be prepared to fight, we may have at least twenty ants to deal with."

Sneaking toward the chamber the trio saw a large shadow moving ahead, it took them a few seconds to realize what this was. It was the most horrifying thing Sean and Dylan had ever seen. It was fat, and the largest bug they had ever seen.

"Hey Sean?"

"Yeah Dylan?"

"We need more insect repellant."

"Yeah, wait a sec do they not care about us?"

"Hmm, you're right Dylan it looks like they don't seem to be harmful at all." Clayton said in shock.

Suddenly the queen shrieked loudly deafening the group and the ants all turned around at once turning hostile.

"Well, that right there is a problem. Why did you guys say anything?" Sean said starting to back away.

Meanwhile, north of Flintsville…

"_50m to target. Four hostiles detected. Can you take them down?"_

"No problem. Thanks for the info A.C."

"_You are welcome Master Josh."_

Walking toward a building Josh noticed a head on a spike near the doorway.

"Well that almost clinches it they are raiders." he said to himself.

A loud scream comes from inside the house.

"Lucy!" Josh said as he kicked the door in with his good leg.

Four shocked faces turned towards him as he entered the house. For two of them that was the last thing they ever saw. Another made a move for his pistol, but was dropped by a single bullet. The last one began to cower behind an old couch it did little to protect him from Josh. Grabbing the raider by the neck he said...

"Where is the girl?"

"O-over there.." The raider said pointing to a door.

"Thanks, now die." Josh said as he began squeezing the life out of the raider. The eyes were staring at him slowly losing their life until a blank look in them formed signifying that it was finished.

"There, that looks like that's it. Man these raiders are not challenging anymore."

Going over to the door the raider pointed at, Josh opened the door to a dark room. Noticing something moving in the dark Josh turned on his Pip-boy light revealing the scared look of Lucy.

"Lucy! You're okay!"

She just stared at Josh with sadness in her eyes.

"Wait, did they do anything to you?"

She nodded no.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing" she said quietly "It's just that no one has ever been so nice to me before."

"That's what having friends does, we protect one another. Now let's go now."

"Hey Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you tell me why you want to protect people?"

"Well, as I said earlier I don't want to lose anyone else close to me."

"Why?"  
"My parents were killed and I couldn't do anything to save them."

"Tell me about it."

"Alright."

January 13, 2077 a few months before the apocalypse…

"Hey Josh, whats goin' on?"

"Sup Dylan, just wondering if this war is going to end."

"Yeah probably what with that new technology we have. I mean those new suits of armor look really cool."

"Yeah, those Chinese bastards aren't gonna stand a chance. Alaska is ours."  
"Still don't you wish you were helping them out?"

"Sometimes, but they need people to hold the fort at home."

"Yeah you're right. Hey, do you want to see what's on the radio?"

"Yeah, sure."

Listening to the radio for news of the war was boring at times, but today it seemed like it was more lively than it had been.

"That's it folks! It seems that the Chinese have been driven out of Alaska by our troops! Victory is ours!"

Hollers and whoops sounded from up and down the streets.

"Our boys are comin' home!" Dylan exclaimed happily.

"Took em' long enough, didn't it?"

"Yeah, well it took us four years to beat those Germans in World War II so I'd say seven months is a better time."  
"Yeah, you're right man, now is a time for celebration!"

Three months later…

"Well guys, what are you gonna do now that you beat those Chinese up in Alaska?" Sean asked.

"We don't know yet, but we are probably going to invade them or something." One of the soldiers responded.

"Hey, anyone else hear beeping?" another soldier asked.

"I recognize that! Its Chinese code!"

"Here!?" Clayton said in a hurry.

"The four of you stay here, let those who are trained to handle this situation go." A soldier commanded.

"But we can help you…"

"No! Stay safe I don't want civilians getting in the way."

"Fine then, we'll be here if you need us."

"Alright men, let's move out!"

"Sir, yes sir!" They all responded in unison.

The soldiers exit leaving the four friends in the room all of them pondering what the Chinese could be doing in their small town.

"Hey, guys?"

"Yeah Dylan?" Josh answered leading him to answer.

"You know how we're planning a vault?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Well, they might be here trying to stop us from building it."

"How would they know about it?"

"They have spies over here don't they?"

"Naturally, we probably have some over there too."

"Wait, doesn't that mean that they might know who we are and who we are related to?"

"Guys, we need to go home, now!"

"Yeah, our parents may be in danger."

Later…

The door to my house was kicked when I arrived and a Chinese man is standing in the doorway. The same had happened to the others, but they got to their homes in time to get their families to safety. My parents were already dead, and I went into a hysterical rage, killing all of the Chinese men who were in the house, but the worst part was seeing them dead on the floor with gashes across their necks. After a few days I had finally got around to seeing the guys again.

"Hey, guys."

"Josh! What happened man? We haven't seen you for a few days." Sean said concerned.

Throwing a bloody sword in the ground between them...

"There is nothing left for me in this world, we need to get that Vault built. It's only a matter of time. Oh, and Dylan, that is for you." Josh said pointing at the sword.

Understanding what Josh meant by him saying what he did the mood suddenly dropped into sadness, and they began planning where the Vault would be and what would happen.

Back in the present…

"Wow, so that's why you jumped off that roof isn't it?" Lucy said after hearing the story.

"Yeah, it is."

"Is your leg better now?"

"Yeah, but there is still a bit of pain every now and then. But let's get back to the doc's, the others should be back anytime now."

After a few more minutes of walking Josh and Lucy were now back at the entrance to the town. They went and got the supplies the doc asked for and returned to his home.

The three friends were sprinting through the tunnels as the giant ants followed. They had no way to fight these bastards. The ants breathed fire! and Dylan was the unlucky one who happened to find out that they were fire ants. He was being half carried by Sean and Clayton because the fire from one of the soldier ants burned his left leg and chest. They had no idea where to go, everything seemed the same, and they ran into more ants at every turn. Finally they saw some light at the end of the current tunnel and hoping that it led outside, ran towards it as fast as they could. Bursting through the few rocks and dirt that was in front of them the trio emerged into the light...of a campfire.

Surrounding the fire was a group of people who were dressed in blood stained combat armor with black bandanas around their heads. Both groups froze for a split second, staring at each other. Then our boys, remembering the ants, dove around the hill they came out of and started looking for a place to hide. The ants soon came hurrying out of the ant hill and immediately attacked the odd raider people. The battle that followed was extremely one-sided. The ants hungrily tore apart the raiders, though the raiders managed to kill a few ants, they were no match for them. Sean, Clayton and Dylan were hiding and witnessed the gruesome showdown. With the raider people being torn to shreds, the trio were detected by the ants, now exhausted and with one of them injured they wondered if they were ever going to get back.


End file.
